Arcos Dorados Holdings Inc. (NYSE:ARCO) Short Interest Update

Arcos Dorados Holdings Inc. (NYSE:ARCO) was the recipient of a large decline in short interest in the month of March. As of March 31st, there was short interest totaling 3,062,007 shares, a decline of 19.7% from the March 15th total of 3,813,584 shares. Based on an average trading volume of 1,153,742 shares, the short-interest ratio is presently 2.7 days. Currently, 1.5% of the shares of the company are short sold.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Arcos Dorados

Several hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the stock. Royal Bank of Canada grew its stake in Arcos Dorados by 23.1% during the first quarter. Royal Bank of Canada now owns 538,925 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock valued at $4,344,000 after acquiring an additional 101,301 shares in the last quarter. Jane Street Group LLC lifted its stake in Arcos Dorados by 58.3% in the 1st quarter. Jane Street Group LLC now owns 309,785 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $2,497,000 after purchasing an additional 114,034 shares in the last quarter. Jump Financial LLC bought a new position in shares of Arcos Dorados during the 2nd quarter valued at about $1,315,000. WINTON GROUP Ltd boosted its holdings in shares of Arcos Dorados by 213.3% during the 2nd quarter. WINTON GROUP Ltd now owns 50,077 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock valued at $395,000 after purchasing an additional 34,094 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Nebula Research & Development LLC grew its position in shares of Arcos Dorados by 6.3% during the second quarter. Nebula Research & Development LLC now owns 166,767 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock valued at $1,316,000 after purchasing an additional 9,892 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 55.91% of the company’s stock.

Arcos Dorados Price Performance

Shares of Arcos Dorados stock traded up $0.11 during trading hours on Thursday, hitting $8.67. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 992,487 shares, compared to its average volume of 913,802. The company has a market cap of $1.83 billion, a PE ratio of 8.58, a PEG ratio of 3.07 and a beta of 0.48. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.46, a quick ratio of 0.95 and a current ratio of 1.03. The business has a 50 day moving average price of $8.32 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $7.70. Arcos Dorados has a 12-month low of $6.51 and a 12-month high of $8.98.

Arcos Dorados (NYSE:ARCO) last released its earnings results on Thursday, March 19th. The restaurant operator reported $0.12 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.20 by ($0.08). The business had revenue of $1.27 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.26 billion. Arcos Dorados had a return on equity of 8.12% and a net margin of 4.53%.The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 10.7% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business posted $0.28 EPS. Analysts expect that Arcos Dorados will post 0.63 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Arcos Dorados Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, December 29th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, December 23rd will be issued a dividend of $0.07 per share. This represents a $0.28 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.2%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, December 23rd. Arcos Dorados’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 23.76%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities analysts recently commented on the company. Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a “hold (c-)” rating on shares of Arcos Dorados in a report on Monday, December 29th. The Goldman Sachs Group reissued a “buy” rating on shares of Arcos Dorados in a report on Wednesday, April 8th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Buy rating and three have assigned a Hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $8.70.

About Arcos Dorados

Arcos Dorados Holdings Inc is the largest independent McDonald’s franchisee in the world, operating under an exclusive license agreement with McDonald’s Corporation. The company develops, owns and operates quick-service restaurants, offering the full McDonald’s menu, including hamburgers, chicken sandwiches, salads, sides, desserts and McCafé beverages. In addition to restaurant operations, Arcos Dorados manages supply chain logistics, property development, training and support services for its franchise network.

Headquartered in Montevideo, Uruguay, Arcos Dorados serves 20 markets across Latin America and the Caribbean, including Argentina, Brazil, Chile, Colombia, Mexico, Puerto Rico and Uruguay.